#gorum

[golariontoday]

Quote: Thus the pledge is sealed, and thus you are accepted, forever with our thanks, come what may. https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Elysium

[golariontoday]

Quote: Make your own holy days.

[golariontoday]

Quote: Battle and its tools are the only good things in life.

[lukedanger]

Owlcatober - Day 17 - Parents

Spoilers for Pathfinder 2E (particularly Prey for Death) below this @owlcatober post.

[Ao3 Link]

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From their perch on the rocky hillside, Irabeth could see the whole village that was now her home. One of several that had grown around Drezen in the years since the Fifth Crusade had ended. Dark gray clouds gently rolled through the morning sky, casting a gentle shadow.

She had not come alone, though. Next to her was a young boy - a young orc, barely seven years of age. The cold of early winter had them both wearing fur coats, but this was not something that could wait. She watched him fingering the amulet, one of the few things he had left of his family and tribe thanks to Tar-Baphon. An iron amulet depicting a sword thrust into a mountainside.

The amulet of a dead god.

“War and strife are a part of mortal life,” Irabeth began, “waged by the righteous and wicked alike. Gorum was the god of battle and weapons, Katalmach, embodied by every sword and spear wielded in war.” 

Irabeth placed her sword in front of the young orc, still in its sheath, continuing as Katalmach listened.

“Thousands of years ago, our ancestors lived in the Darklands, deep beneath the surface. As the dwarves drove orc-kind before them in the Quest of the Sky, they emerged to a sunless world and fought for a new home. It was a battle fought for survival, in desperation, in anger, but in the aftermath stood a lone suit of armor: Gorum, the Lord in Iron.”

“Gorum was the chaos of war in its purest form, the very embodiment of mortalkind’s violent urges. It angered him to see honest combat averted by words or magical schemes, yet such anger paled in comparison to his fury at those who slaughtered helpless prisoners and those who yielded. Alas, the false believers took his rage as a portent of his favor and even those who strove for higher ideals became convinced that Gorum demanded blood to be shed for its own sake.”

Poor Morveg. Even he felt that someone had to die to wield the Fang of Malice, and he was someone who fought for a higher purpose even as he sought to test himself. One day, she would tell Katalmach what happened there, if she did not ask Seelah or the others who were there that day.

And as Irabeth realized Katalmach was frowning at the amulet, she realized how she was steering into the same mistake Kyado deliberately did in his sermon yesterday.

“Seeing the suffering his followers, perhaps his existence, brought to the universe spurred Gorum’s honor. He acted, arranging for his own death in the desperate hope that without him empowering the worst of mortalkind, its best might thrive.”

“War continues, Katalmach: your parents and most of your tribe fell in it, but did so to defy enslavement to a lich bent on godhood. If you choose to become a warrior yourself, one day that may be your fate.” Irabeth pointed a finger towards the amulet. “But the cause is not what Gorum stood for: the act of battle itself, engaged in honorably. That is what Gorum stood for, and what he perished for.”

Irabeth picked up her sword again, drawing it and showing Katalmach the artistry that had gone into her father’s sword. She smiled as he eagerly studied it - especially as he looked at the intricate pattern work that went into Solemn Hour. Despite his name, perhaps he would not lose himself in battle.

“Could you teach me?” he finally asked. “Mom said she would.”

“Of course,” Irabeth answered. She and Anevia had discussed it. “But there are many other things you need to learn first. If Gorum still resides in every blade and spear, then you must know how to treat them properly first.”

Katalmach nodded in understanding, firmly holding Gorum’s symbol, and as the snow began to fall Irabeth could feel it.

Anevia had been right: even when she felt she had no more campaigns in her, she needed a cause.

And it deserved no less than everything she could do to help him find his way after everything he suffered.

[araznitheunyielding]

ACHAEKEK KILLS GORUM????

What the actual fuck did Gorum do to piss him off LMAO

[the-dragon-blade]

"So, the old man died, huh...", Igris muttered as he laid on the tree branch, watching the sky above.

"Well, that sucks.", he added with a sigh and raised the bottle towards the sky, as if a toast to the departed. This wasn't a good night.

[saul-tortellini]

Announcing that Gorum is dead and then announcing that there's gonna be an archetype for Warpriests to make them good at martial combat was just rubbing salt in the wound for all 5 of us Gorum fans

[araznitheunyielding]

It's official everyone. Gorum is fucking dead. Other casualties confirmed include the Sarkorian God Sturovenen and the Orc God Verex the Despoiler (good fucking riddance to that one).